Jules' disappearance.
Her answers were always the same. The visits from the creatures were always the same.
The day after Jules was taken they'd come inside her bedroom window and silenced her immediately.
They said things. Terrible things. But she believed them when they told her if she said anything about what really happened, she would get the same fate as her boyfriend.
Now this one came again.
Cynthia didn't care what it said. She thought it liked causing her pain and fear.
Her only consolation was that if they had Julia... really had her... they wouldn't be so worried about discovery.
Cynthia wasn't the same girl she'd been before. She didn't care about fashion or fun. She wanted to escape from Homer. Move somewhere new.
Somewhere they couldn't find her.
As she lay pinned on her bed by the creature that ground out its demands, its filthy half-paw wrapped around her throat, its fetid breath encasing her in rot, he instructed her on what to say.
“Keep to the story. Repeat what it is,” it growled at her. At least it was only the one this time.
“I... it was a bear attack.” Her eyes flicked to its, golden and spinning in an immense head with fur the color of the sea on an stormy day. “That's why there was so much... blo... blood,” Cynthia said, her voice trembling from the memory of the blood, the carnage, her boyfriend's decapitated body, paces from hers.
He squeezed her throat and the breath wheezed out of it. “And...,” the werewolf that held her on the bed asked, giving her a teeth rattling shake.
He released the pressure so she could utter the final lie, “I passed out from the shock. I never saw what happened,” Cynthia said mechanically.
It smiled a grin filled with teeth meant to maim, tear and kill. It suddenly released her throat and her hand went to it automatically. The tears fell in rivulets, dampening her pillow.
Cynthia had seen everything that happened. All of it.
She didn't like slasher flicks anymore.
She knew horror was real.
Cynthia watched the Were leave through the window like before.
She made a promise to herself in that moment. She'd move to where they couldn't find her. Somewhere different, anonymous... big.
Like Seattle.
Perfect.
She'd forget what had happened with a fresh environment, Cynthia told herself.
Her eyes fixed on her meager belongings in her studio apartment. She rose from her bed and began to pack at three o'clock in the morning.
Long past the witching hour.
*
Julia
Adi and Julia ran.
No privacy of course, but they ran anyway. It felt so like the exercise she'd taken with William and the other runners. But the Were could keep up in their human form.
Julia hated Tony at her back. Because she knew, deep down, that he really didn't have her back. William had been open about his intentions, about the history. The vampire Book of Blood.
The Were had been covert, not that it helped. Adi told Julia everything she wanted to know and things she didn't. She was a treasure. If Julia had met her in other circumstances they could have been friends.
But even now, Julia planned her escape.
She ran on a dirt path, made wide by use, the dappled shade from the trees making the ground look like a puzzle of light. Julia felt the heat of the sun even through the trees and felt how different it was from Alaska. There was a distance in that part of the world. As if the sun held its rays back, stingy in its warmth. Here in Washington, the kiss of its heat was all around them and she reveled in it.
She'd miss it.
Julia didn't care if she was important. She wanted freedom, liberty. She had stayed awake these past few nights thinking about that one, one hundredth percent of Rare Ones that breathed the air on this earth. Why couldn't she belong to them?
Why couldn't she belong to herself?
Be free to choose her own path, her own destiny. There was no one to give her any council. They all wanted a piece of her.
Of her blood. A song that rivaled all others. A genetic match of perfection to balance their needs.
What about hers?
They drove up the last hill, their legs pumping furiously, Adi barely breathing as she whispered to Julia, “Ya know that swine Tony?”
Julia huffed out, her legs grinding up the incline, “Yeah?”
“He put me in the dog house and now I'm off babysitting your precious ass,” she said, sprinting ahead.
Oh shit.
Julia poured on the speed and caught up, running alongside her. “What do you mean? He scares me,” Julia said quietly, mindful of the ears pricked behind them.
“He's made me give a squirt of pee on occasion,” Adi said dryly. “But not without payback if you feel me.” She gave a smug smile and Julia nodded. She felt her. It'd only been a couple of weeks here in the den but already she wondered why Adi wasn't in charge. She sure thought she was.
Adi hadn't gotten the memo.
But in reality Julia had grudging respect for Joseph. He was stern, gentle and supervised the pack with great fairness. The Packmaster... he was a different story. Julia hadn't liked him much better than Tony. Julia remembered their brief meeting.
*
Lawrence circled the Rare One and was surprised at her. Hardly more than a girl, she looked no different than any other female.
But for her smell she could have been any college-aged student, roaming around.
She certainly was not. Her smell was like the most rare perfume, small in quantity and potently lethal.
Agitating. Julia Caldwell drove under his skin and stayed there. The moon as his witness he would be most glad when the Ritual of Luna and the mating was finished. He would lose one of his wolves and gain a legend. Freedom was within their grasp. Having a Rare One would solidify their leadership in the Pacific Northwest Region.
Forever.
A self-satisfied smile curled his lips as he met Julia.
He saw that she regarded him with distrust. No matter, hers had been an easy life.
Julia watched him assume everything about her in a glance and knew that he may be Packmaster here, but to her, he was presumptuous. And just plain wrong. She had a trick or two up her sleeve. They thought her awakening powers were not fully formed. That when she'd heaved Tony against the fridge that she was too much of a novice to do anything to defend herself.
They were wrong. Julia was executing the equivalent of push-ups when she was alone in her room. Levitating herself and all that was in her space.
She'd become quite good at it, developing finesse, pushing herself for control in the short time she'd been there.
Claire would have been proud, gulping against the lump that formed in her throat.
Julia glanced at Adi and she nodded back. Time to turn back. They turned where a great log had fallen, its form caved in with a secondary seedling growing out of the decomposition. Julia looked beyond it, into the deeper woods.
It was there that her escape lay.
As they ran the werewolves fell in beside them and Julia could feel the emotions around her. There was no way to block it out. She could not gain one ability without others showing up. She had never wished for something more in her whole life. Another one like her.
A Blood Singer.
*
four days
He heard them as they came back from exercise and pressed his snout against the acrylic partition, a vile material that smelled like rotting plastic to his most sensitive organ. He smelled the female of his kind that fed him and the other.
He would know her fragrance anywhere. But it had changed. Something about that familiar scent was altered.
It didn't matter. Soon enough, when the moon was ripe and full, he would escape this place. He mourned what would be done to see it through.
But in the end, it would be worth it.
*
Adriana slipped into the kennel where the feral was kept and instantly felt the guilt grip her.
She hated seeing him.
He was the most beautiful of the Were she'd ever seen. A coat so deep a red it was like wine, eyes so green they shimmered like emeralds. In fact, Adi didn't think there were jewels that looked as good as his eyes. But she'd been there the day he'd knocked off the head of her whelpmate.
He was dangerous.
And crazier than a June bug, as her grandpa would say.
She had extra feral duty. Because she'd walloped that shitwad Tony in the head with the pan. No thanks that she'd saved the precious Rare One from a mauling. Oh-no. It was, “Adriana, Tony is superior, you need to show deference...” Blah, effing blah. Deference her ass. Tony was a pain-in-all-their-butts. She figured she did everyone a favor. He had a very small brain and when she'd thwacked his head, maybe the swelling would enlarge it enough so he'd think.
Nah, that'd been a fat damn chance. He was back to asshat status as soon as he woke up.
The dick. Why he was even in line for the Ritual was beyond her. None of the men could see his cruelty? He wasn't good with the whelplings. He had to remind them constantly that he was dominant. Yeah? So what. They knew that. They didn't need their asses handed to them day in and day out to catch a clue.
Adi fumed inside the kennel, which was really a huge outbuilding. Her eyes went at once to the feral. He was in human form and she thought that unusual. He could partially change at will and didn't need the moon. However, he was invincible when it was full. Nobody entered then, unless there were three or more.
They'd learned that the hard way.
Adi felt guilty that he didn't get food or water one day a month. Actually, she didn't agree with keeping him like a zoo animal. Just because he was turned didn't mean that he was less than them.
Lesser.
He watched her approach him warily, very small for a female of his kind but wily, yes... very clever.
She looked at him in his human form, six foot two, athletic build, sandy blonde hair. But the eyes were not green. She didn't know why they were not gold during the Change like her pack. The Packmaster didn't know why he was a red. There were so few.
Adi had a speculation about it. The Alphas weren't keen on listening. Her brother would though. She would tell him tonight.
Adi looked behind her for a moment, thinking of Julia... what if? No, it was too weird for words. It was impossible.
Sacrilegious.
She went forward with the food, it squirmed and whimpered in her clasp, its fate etched in its eyes.
He began to salivate before she pushed it through the slot, her wrist and part of her forearm vulnerable to injury.
The man sprung forward, scooping the prey out of her grasp and lightly scratched her with his talon as she withdrew.
Their eyes met for a moment as she snatched her arm back through the narrow distribution slot. She cradled the arm against her chest, the blood from the scratch soaking her T-shirt beneath.
Adi had never been more glad for the two foot thick partition. She knew who would be the victor between the two of them if he escaped...
For the first time in her life, Adriana was scared. Scared of another wolf.
He was more Alpha than any she'd ever known.
And she didn't scare easy.
CHAPTER 24
William did not have the kiss at his back. Gabriel wanted Julia back, but not at any cost. It was a conditional desire.
William's was not. She would be his. Not the dogs', not some other hapless runner with Singer ancestry. His.
He waited in the woods, the night but a promise, his brazenness in the darkest part of of the forest a testimony to his desire to retrieve her from the clutches of the mongrels. For tonight was their ritual. When the moon wept her fullness on the Were, they would change. They would feed and they would consummate their hold on the Rare One.
For as long as William took breath, they would not.
*
Brendan
The Singer looked both directions and turned to his sister. “I smell a vamp in these here parts!”
Jen rolled her eyes, not everything was a joke! “Shut up, they'll hear you...” she folded her arms across her chest and gave him a look like, are you kidding me?
Brendan chuckled, grabbing Jen in a bear hug that left her without enough oxygen. “Knock it off!” she hissed. “This is serious!”
Brendan nodded soberly, then went off in a hysterical fit of laughing.
Jen stalked off.
Brothers. She oughta know, she had three. All Singers, all with plenty of air between their ears. She was the only sane one in the family.
Brendan stood behind her. “Don't be mad... it's just,” he shrugged then continued, “the intel says we've got a 'big deal' Singer wrapped up with the Were but they've been wrong before.” Brendan made a bunch of noise kicking a stone that lay in a nest of leaves.
William turned his head, hearing a small sound not of nature, half a mile east from his position. He stood, trapped in the shadows, the sun a dangerous heat, high and bright above the safety of the forest's canopy.
Had it been night, he would have discovered who made the racket.
As it were, he must remain where he was, steeped in frustration and anxious for the next step. His nemesis, the sun, rode above him.
All thoughts lead to one:
Julia.
“Would you stop being so loud? If you know there's a vamp around why would you provoke him?”
Brendan grinned, she took all the fun out of his antagonizing. “He'll fry like a tiki torch, sis. I want a front seat for that performance.” He smiled wistfully and Jen rolled her eyes again. Her brothers had a death wish!
He saw Jen's face and laughed. “Nah. He'll have to park his ass in the woods or some skulk-position like that until twilight comes. There's no moving until then. I'm just yanking his undead chain.” Brendan stretched his long body and tight muscles corded and flexed with the movement.
Jen wanted to punch him. It was a two-part reason. One, he was just that sure of himself. Two, he could eat enough food for five people and still look like a GQ model. She scowled at him and he grinned wider, his teeth flashing white in the semi-gloom of where they stood in the woods.
“You remember I've never been wrong before, right? Smart-ass!”
“Ooh... language!” Brendan warned, the smile still plastered on his arrogant mug.
Jen contained herself with effort. “Listen here, buster. I'm part of that 'intel' you blithely discounted. I'm precog...”
Brendan muttered under his breath... “A helluva a lot more than that...”
“Huh?” Jen said, narrowing her eyes on his.
Brendan threw his hand against his chest, fingers splayed. “What? I didn't say anything.”
Right, Jen thought.
There was a noise down low from their position and Jen caught the flare of Brendan's nostrils just as he swung his head toward where the Were poured through a wide pathway, opposite their position with two females.
The siblings crouched down simultaneously. Peering through the thick foliage hugging the base of fir and cedar trees which grew like mighty companions, the fragrance thicker than the air around them, their eyes stayed trained on the enemy.
“What are they?” Jen asked in the softest voice, barely above a whisper.
“Were... and...” Brendan extended his neck, lifting his chin, nose in the air. “All Were but one of the females. She's Singer...”
Jen huffed in triumph. No kidding? Singer, huh? Like she'd said.
Brendan caught her self-satisfied smirk and continued, stuffing his irritation at his know-it-all sibling, “... there's something more.”
But when they looked again, the group had disappeared inside the compound.
“Damn!” Brendan said, pounding a fist on his jean-clad thigh. “Almost had it.”
“Had what
?”
“What flavor she was,” he said, grinning again.
“Girls aren't ice cream!” Jen huffed.
Brendan's smile widened. “News to me.”
Jen punched him a good one in the arm.
She used her knuckles like he'd taught her. He leaped back as she swung and it was a glancing blow but she'd made him flinch.
Felt good.
Brendan looked at his tiger of a sibling. On the prowl.
Girls, he thought, rubbing the red spot she'd made, his smile returning as he looked at her.
****
The Ritual of Luna
Adriana looked at Julia and thought she cleaned up pretty good. She eyed her critically, taking in the all-white ensemble. She couldn't help but connect the dots of symbolism here. Virginal lamb led to slaughter. Actually, she didn't really know about Jules' background except she was still sorta hung up on her husband. The guy had been dead, what? For-freakin'-ever. Like get over it yesterday. But, she'd hardly been able to get through talking about him to tell Adriana what her story was. Even she had to admit Julia hadn't had the greatest life. Parents dead at eight, lived with crappy and resentful relative. Soulmate husband bled out by rogue Were.
That was troubling to Adriana. Why had the Were taken out the Singer? It was an amateur's move. She couldn't understand why he'd been a target at all. Any idiot whelpling knew that a werewolf could subdue a human without killing them. Hell! One of the Were could subdue four humans. It puzzled her. Something smelled funky and she'd love to find out the cause of it. Of course, Adriana knew from experience that when she started sniffing around, her nose got slapped.
That pissed her right the hell off.
“Adi?” Julia asked, her champagne-colored hair finally free of the black hair dye and well past her shoulders again.
“Huh?” Adriana jerked her head up. She'd really been a million miles away.
Lycan Alpha Claim 3 Page 28
